Court dismisses 1st-degree murder conviction
Published 10:42 am Thursday, April 19, 2012
ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Supreme Court has thrown out a first-degree murder conviction for a St. Paul man allegedly involved a drug-related shooting.
Twenty-eight-year-old Jabaris Boldman was sentenced him to life in prison after being convicted of shooting 43-year-old Vernon Cafle in St. Paul in January 2009.
According to a grand jury indictment, Boldman was charged with first-degree murder for causing the death of someone while committing or attempting to commit the unlawful sale of marijuana.
In an opinion issued Wednesday, the Supreme Court noted “the evidence was not sufficient to support the first-degree murder conviction.” That’s because no marijuana was recovered from Boldman after the shooting.
His case will go back to Ramsey County District Court for sentencing on the second-degree murder charge.